As a SF freak, I'd have to admit the best I could say about this movie is that it had its (brief) moments, and showed promise, but failed miserably to deliver.
An armada of 666(!) giant robots arrive on Earth and position themselves in capital cities worldwide. Apparently they are the executors of Earth's death sentence - they are somehow slowing down the Earth's core and that will mean FINIS by sunset. Something to do with tilting its axis but otherwise never discussed, elaborated or otherwise given any credence.
Along with the robots comes a Woman and a Man, who show up wandering naked in the woods. The Woman is "The Destroyer", though why is never elaborated. The Man's role is never described but presumably he supplements the Woman somehow. They both can manifest awesome force-projection powers (enough to knock a squad of soldiers off its feet) but nevertheless are easily tranquilized and kept captive, sedated etc.
The people of Earth have been judged and found wanting as too destructive. But if they can show their "humanity" to the Woman, they might be saved. It's left to Myron (Howell), who forms a bond with the Woman, to do this, incidentally through helping a woman in childbirth. The Woman says she can't intervene in human affairs but does so to save the woman who has just given birth. In the end it's this action/these events which seems to convince Her that humanity contains some value and should be spared (whatever..)
SFX are not bad, unlike the rest of the movie. When the robot armada arrives, there's no warning. No radar centers plotting their arrival, or crowds gawking at the spectacle (the robots are some 20 stories high). It's just PLONK and they're there. Even with a small budget, a lot can be done if there's careful thought, which is sadly lacking here.
The "command center" (on which the destiny of the world hangs) particularly grated. It's a dingy room with a few even dingier benches on which sit a few PCs with CRT ("fat") monitors, with a kid's telescope on some filing cabinets in the background along with a few arc lights, for good measure. Blueprints are several times rolled out - I am no architect but I'm pretty sure they went out with slide rules in the 70's.
Character development is sketchy and unconvincing at best, or simply non-existent. Only Myron's approaches acceptability.
The 5 min end-credits roll in ultra slow motion, with a big "The Day The Earth Stopped" occupying the last 30 secs, to conceal the fact that there simply isn't much to show as to what went into the film's production.
One can only assume this movie was timed to release at the same time as, and capitalize on, "The Day The Earth Stood Still". I for one was sucked in. But frankly I would be embarrassed to watch it in the presence of non-SFers who had any sort of discernment at all.
A very generous 3/10
An armada of 666(!) giant robots arrive on Earth and position themselves in capital cities worldwide. Apparently they are the executors of Earth's death sentence - they are somehow slowing down the Earth's core and that will mean FINIS by sunset. Something to do with tilting its axis but otherwise never discussed, elaborated or otherwise given any credence.
Along with the robots comes a Woman and a Man, who show up wandering naked in the woods. The Woman is "The Destroyer", though why is never elaborated. The Man's role is never described but presumably he supplements the Woman somehow. They both can manifest awesome force-projection powers (enough to knock a squad of soldiers off its feet) but nevertheless are easily tranquilized and kept captive, sedated etc.
The people of Earth have been judged and found wanting as too destructive. But if they can show their "humanity" to the Woman, they might be saved. It's left to Myron (Howell), who forms a bond with the Woman, to do this, incidentally through helping a woman in childbirth. The Woman says she can't intervene in human affairs but does so to save the woman who has just given birth. In the end it's this action/these events which seems to convince Her that humanity contains some value and should be spared (whatever..)
SFX are not bad, unlike the rest of the movie. When the robot armada arrives, there's no warning. No radar centers plotting their arrival, or crowds gawking at the spectacle (the robots are some 20 stories high). It's just PLONK and they're there. Even with a small budget, a lot can be done if there's careful thought, which is sadly lacking here.
The "command center" (on which the destiny of the world hangs) particularly grated. It's a dingy room with a few even dingier benches on which sit a few PCs with CRT ("fat") monitors, with a kid's telescope on some filing cabinets in the background along with a few arc lights, for good measure. Blueprints are several times rolled out - I am no architect but I'm pretty sure they went out with slide rules in the 70's.
Character development is sketchy and unconvincing at best, or simply non-existent. Only Myron's approaches acceptability.
The 5 min end-credits roll in ultra slow motion, with a big "The Day The Earth Stopped" occupying the last 30 secs, to conceal the fact that there simply isn't much to show as to what went into the film's production.
One can only assume this movie was timed to release at the same time as, and capitalize on, "The Day The Earth Stood Still". I for one was sucked in. But frankly I would be embarrassed to watch it in the presence of non-SFers who had any sort of discernment at all.
A very generous 3/10